Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Traumatized Refugees: Integration, Symbolization, and Mourning

The psychotherapeutic encounter may be experienced as threatening for severely traumatized patients because of fear of re-experiencing and retraumatization. This puts a focus on how different aspects of the transference and psychotherapeutic situation address different aspects of the patient’s pathology. The discussion uses clinical material from psychotherapies with traumatized refugees. Vignettes illuminate the problems.